Editor’s Note: In my quest to find Jewish stories wherever I go, I decided there is no place like home to illustrate the concept that “there is a Jewish story everywhere.” Interstate 8 roughly follows the traditional route that settlers took in their covered wagons in the mid-19th century to get to San Diego from the […]
I-8 Jewish Travel ~ Bahia Hotel, San Diego Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Travel and Food, USA
By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO—Although invocations by Rabbi Michael Berk of Congregation Beth Israel and Monsignor Richard Duncanson of Mission San Diego de Alcala came in reverse chronological order as far as San Diego history was concerned, they were in correct historical order from the standpoint of world history. Jews were first on the
Inter- religious invocations honor San Diego’s history Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, San Diego CountyBy Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – The California state senator who heads the first-in-the-nation Jewish legislative caucus says it’s time for Jews in the U.S. Congress to form a caucus too, and adds that U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, the Florida congresswoman who chairs the national Democratic party, agrees with him “100 percent.” State Sen.
California legislator: Congress needs a Jewish caucus Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, USABy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–A number of individuals from my home town of Fall River have traveled to Ponta Delgada in the Azores to commemorate the refurbishing of a synagogue that they had financed. They also met with the one Jew still living in the islands. The story is long and interesting, and ironic from both
The Jews and Portuguese of Fall River Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Jewish History, USABy Eileen Wingard SAN DIEGO –Eve Gerstle expects to be sitting in Copley Symphony Hall on the evening of May 7, as a special guest of Conductor Murry Sidlin, watching the performance of the multi-media Concert-Drama, The Defiant Requiem. This remarkable lady, who is celebrating her 101st birthday, has a particular interest in this work.
Terezin survivor to be special guest at ‘Defiant Requiem’ Read More »
Eileen Wingard, Jewish HistoryBy Mark D. Zimmerman MELVILLE, New York — Ringo Starr was just inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Everyone knows of Brian Epstein’s role in discovering and promoting the Beatles. What role did another Jew play in Ringo’s earlier life that contributed to his future success as a Beatle A. Prior to joining the
Jewish trivia: Ringo Starr Read More »
Jewish History, Mark D. ZimmermanBy Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — Jewish and Israeli history is replete with both tragic and joyful events, and in fact the life of a Jew living in Israel is something of a roller-coaster existence, taking us from the depths of sorrow one day to the sublime heights of joy the next, whether it’s
An emotional roller coaster during Israel’s holidays Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Jewish History, Middle EastBy Gary Rotto SAN DIEGO — As I started out this column, my intent was to make a statement for the “ownership” of the term Holocaust. As long as I can remember, I always had a visceral reaction when this term was used by others to describe a potential disaster. To me, anything would pale in
‘Holocaust’ and ‘Shoah’ meanings and emotions Read More »
Jewish History
Deb Bowen and Cassie Brown, A Walk With Esther; Never Forget Publishing, 2015, $10. Order via http://www.abookbyme.com/Pages/default.aspx By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel CHULA VISTA, California — Many years ago, while I was serving a congregation in Rock Island, Illinois, I was privileged to work with a number of Jewish and Christian professionals in designing one of the
Children interview Survivors, write their stories Read More »
Jewish History, Michael Leo Samuel-RabbiBy Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal SAN DIEGO — As I reviewed Parashat Sh’mini, images from the Shoah (the Holocaust) flashed in my mind. Parashat Sh’mini begins with instructions about the sacrifices Israelites made in the Mishkan in the desert and later the Temple in Jerusalem: “Fire came forth from before the Lord and consumed the burnt
Why we go from mourning to celebration Read More »
Jewish HistoryBy Rabbi Ben Kamin ENCINITAS, California– Lou Dunst, the renowned and beloved survivor of four Nazi death camps and two aborted gas chamber murders, remembers many things. Of his innumerable escapes from certain death, he simply asserts: “Ha-Shem [God] made another miracle.” On one occasion, there was an unfathomable malfunction in the delivery of the Zyklon
Survivor believes he was saved to ‘tell the story’ Read More »
Jewish History
By Anav Silverman JERUSALEM (Tazpit)– In the Jerusalem Hills, there stands the single largest memorial to the Holocaust in the world known as Martyrs’ Forest, which is comprised of six million trees planted in memory of those six million Jews who perished. A unique ceremony, the only one its kind held on Holocaust Remembrance Day
The rabbi and bishop teamed up as rescuers Read More »
International, Jewish History, Middle EastLincoln and the Jews: A History by Jonathan D. Sarna and Benjamin Shapell, St. Martin Press, New York; ISBN 978-1-250-05935-6 ©2015, $40.00, p. 227, plus appendices and index By Fred Reiss, Ed.D. WINCHESTER, California — Abraham Lincoln died on Saturday, April 15, 1865. Most Northerners and many Southerners, particularly those who understood the ramifications of having a new,
‘Lincoln and the Jews,’ scholarly and displayable Read More »
Fred Reiss, EdD, Jewish History, USAOur thanks to Peter Kubicek, who sent this video to us, commenting it was much like the towns he remembered from his boyhood before the Holocaust.
Jewish travel video: Lipnik, Czech Republic Read More »
International, Jewish History, Travel and Food